FDA recommends education about acupuncture as alternative to opioids

The Food and Drug Administration has released new guidelines intended to address the crisis of prescription opioid abuse. For the first time, these guidelines now include a recommendation that physicians educate their patients about the benefits of acupuncture.

According to the FDA, an effective treatment plan should include non-pharmacological therapies as part of a multidisciplinary approach to chronic and acute pain.

This recommendation is part of a trend to deal with the opioid crisis by treating non-opioid therapies - like acupuncture - as a first-line treatment for pain. Institutions and organizations like the Joint Commission and the American College of Physicians have also released similar recommendations in the past years.